Tag: new product development

Design With The Target Market In Mind

I recently wrote a story
for a serialized app
(KISS, Radish, iReader, etc)
with those readers
as my target reader.

It was a VERY different story
than one I would write
for eBook readers.

It had cliffhangers
every 2,000 words,
for example,
rather than merely at the end
of every chapter.

It was written from
one character’s point of view,
rather than two,
as another example.

It will eventually be published
in both formats
– serialized app
and eBook.
I ensured it was readable
in both.
But the primary target market
drove the product development.

When you design
your product/service,
try to make it
acceptable for all markets
but design it primarily
for your key target market.

It will change
the final product/service
and
that should make
a huge difference in sales.

Educating Your Community

I update my readers (customers)
regularly
on where I am
with each book,
what I am working on,
the process,
my schedule.

I find doing this
reassures them.
They know the book is coming.

They are also
more invested
in the upcoming book.
They were there
for its ‘birth’,
for every step of the way.
And when it releases,
it feels like THEIR baby.
They want it to be good,
to do well.

Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah,
co-founders of
Studio 189,
share

“What we have learned to do
is to take time
to explain
and educate our community
about the process of
making clothing
and what goes behind it.
We have found that
the more we share,
the more our customer
actually understands
and becomes more invested
in the community.”

Consider updating and educating
your customers
on your production processes.

Has Something Like This Been Done In The Past?

One of my first tasks
when crafting a new project
is to investigate
if anything like it
has ever been done
before.

If it or something similar
has been tackled
in the past
by someone
or some entity,
it usually becomes
significantly easier
for us to do,
even if it has been done
in a different industry.

Doing groundbreaking,
never been done
work
takes trial and error
and that requires significantly
more time and resources.

As Seth Godin
shares

“…if you’ve signed up
for wayfinding,
forgive yourself
if it takes a little
(or a lot)
longer.
Because if we knew
the right answer,
we would have found it already.
That’s the hard part.”

Search for similar situations
before inventing a solution
from scratch.
It will save you
time and effort.

Just Because You Don’t Use That Feature

A blogger I admire
posted that the
“add a minute” button
on microwaves
was useless
because no one needs
to add that much time.

That is the MOST used button
in our household.

We do use it to
add a minute
but we also use it
to input the minutes.

You are likely not
your target customer.
You are definitely not
EVERY customer.

Consult with your customers
before taking away features
(or somehow track
how often they are used
by EVERYONE).

You’ll likely be surprised
how your product
is being used.

Using Your Time Wisely

It is easy for me
to spend my entire day
on social media.
It is marketing.
Every post
sells at least one book.
And it is fun.

But doing that
would stop me from creating,
from producing
more books to sell,
from doing the ‘hard part’
of filling the production pipeline.

I prevent social media overload
by crafting to do lists.
To do lists force me
to do other things,
harder things.

Seth Godin
asks

“How are you
spending your time?

If we took a look
at your calendar,
how much time is spent
reacting
or responding to incoming,
how much is under your control,
and how much is focused
on the hard part?”

Ensure your day is spent
on all the tasks
you need to do,
not merely the fun
or the reactionary tasks.

Writer’s Block Is Real

People who have never had
writer’s block
believe it is due to
a lack of ideas
or
a need for perfection
or
some other trivial cause.

I wrote professionally
for over a decade full time
before I experienced my first bout
of writer’s block.

It was one of the scariest things
I’ve encountered
as a writer.

I knew what I wanted to write,
had a fully developed premise.
I looked in my brain
and there was nothing.
There were no words.

THAT is what professional writers mean
when they say they ‘have nothing.’
All that is in their brain
is a dark void.

This happens eventually
to all writers.
It also happens eventually
to other creative people
like new business development folks.

It is scary
and it is real
and people who haven’t experienced it
will make it sound
like an affliction
that is easy to fix.

It isn’t easy to fix.

Writer’s block (or creator’s block)
CAN be cured
but it will take effort,
usually a variety of different techniques,
and often some time away
from creating.

If you’re fortunate
to have a long career in creating,
writer’s block will likely happen
to you.

It is normal
and to be expected.

Plan for that time off.
Gather coping techniques.

You and your career or business
will survive this.

Pushback On New Ideas

Whenever I share an upcoming story premise
(a new idea)
with others,
I almost always get pushback on it.

The more original the idea,
the more pushback I receive.

The argument usually is
if readers (prospects) wanted
that type of story
(that type of product),
those stories (products) would have already been
written (developed).

Which is ridiculous
because SOMEONE has to go first.

Seth Godin
shares

“If you wait
until the market is telling you
exactly what it wants,
you’re almost certainly
too late.”

Expect pushback
when you share new ideas.

Develop those new ideas
anyway.